Visa was founded in 1958 as BankAmericard before becoming a global payments company.
Bank of America launched BankAmericard in Fresno, California, in 1958. It was one of the first general-purpose credit-card programs, allowing customers to carry balances rather than paying the full amount immediately. The program expanded through licensing agreements with banks in the United States and other countries.
The BankAmericard system adopted the name Visa in 1976. Visa later became a separate public company and completed its initial public offering in 2008. Its network connects cardholders, merchants, banks, and payment processors, while most cards carrying the Visa brand are issued by financial institutions rather than by Visa itself.
Visa does not generally lend directly to cardholders in the way a bank does. Its market value is tied to payment volume, network fees, international commerce, and the continuing shift from cash to electronic payments.